A New Iberia saltwater angler knows from experience where speckled trout should be in the Vermilion Bay/Marsh Island area in September.
Two areas come to mind as Keo Khamphilavong outlines the typical late summer patterns as the fish usually start moving toward and into inside waters during the last full moon of August. If the water isn’t too turbid and salinity is acceptable, the accomplished fishing rodeo and tournament angler starts looking for speckled trout in Vermilion Bay around The Cove, the Hammock and Blue Point. If conditions get even better, he’ll target them in Weeks Bay and Trash Pile.
As of the end of July, however, those inside waters were mostly fresh and mostly stained from rain runoff, according to the all-around outdoorsman. The Atchafalaya River was at a preferred height, lower than 11 feet at Butte La Rose, but persistent torrential rainfall kept inside waters that way.
Speckled trout were seemingly poised to move inside in July but the water was dirty and fresh and they backed off, he said. What happens weather-wise in August will tell the tale.
“They want to come in now but the water’s dirty,” Khamphilavong said.
As a result, he has been catching most of his speckled trout around near-offshore oilfield platforms as well as some at Tiger Shoals, which was a red-hot spot in July.
Baitfish are everywhere
Khamphilavong, who has owned Keo’s Construction since 1992, believes the best spots to target are the reefs on the south side of Marsh Island or just to the west along the coast. Water permitting, of course.
“Usually this time of year I like to get out outside … Long Reef, Pavy’s Reef, Diamond Reed, Shell Keys, Tete Butte … fish there on the outside,” he said. “The bigger fish are still on the outside. Usually, this time of year, the water’s salty. Oh, yeah, (usually) salinity is high.”
For sure, there’s plenty of food available for speckled trout and other gamefish.
“I tell you one thing, baitfish are everywhere,” he said about cocahoe minnows, pogeys and countless 2- to 2 ½-inch finger mullets.
Khamphilavong, who often fishes with fellow New Iberia outdoorsmen Craig Landry and Randy Migues, brings soft plastics to the breakfast, lunch or supper table — the reefs along coastal Marsh Island. Most of the time they fish with lemon head or ultra-violet Matrix Shads on a ¼-ounce leadhead under a popping cork on 15-pound test monofilament line, he said.
However, he prefers to “tightline” — just bounce a leadhead and soft plastic (also on 15-pound test monofilament line) — on deeper reefs and points in 5- to 8-foot depths.
“We’re pretty successful with that … where we cast and reel in,” he said.
Khamphilavong, whose yellow 24-foot long Blazer Bay is easily recognizable, prefers to fish those reefs on a low tide, but added, “nothing’s wrong with a high tide.”
He navigates the reefs while idling and with his trolling motor and the aid of a Garmin satellite chip.
